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Britain delays plan to hold asylum seekers on barge amid
'final checks' for safety
By Paul Godfrey
south coast was delayed at the last minute Tuesday, reportedly due to safety concerns.
File photo by Jon Rowley/EPA-EFE
Aug. 1 (UPI) -- British government plans to house asylum seekers on a barge moored on the south coast were postponed for a second time in a week Tuesday.
Transport Minister Richard Holden said his understanding was that the Bibby Stockholm, docked in Portland in Dorset, was undergoing "final checks" but refused to confirm reports that serious safety issues had been flagged up and that the barge had yet to receive a clean bill of health from the fire department.
A report by The Times said there were concerns about the 222-cabin barge becoming a "floating Grenfell," referring to a 2017 apartment tower blaze in London in which 72 people were killed.
The first batch of asylum seekers -- 50 single men -- were scheduled to move in last week, but the transfer was delayed to Tuesday at the last minute because work on making it ready was incomplete.
Holden said he could not provide a clear timeline on when the transfer would go ahead.
"I can't put a timeframe on it, Holden said adding that it was only right that any accommodation the government provided was "safe and secure."
The Bibby Stockholm is one of three vessels the government has purchased to ease "unsustainable pressure on the U.K.'s asylum system" and slash the millions of dollars spent every day keeping asylum seekers in hotels, but the scheme has met with significant pushback.
The barges form part of an overall strategy encapsulated in the newly enacted Illegal Migration Bill which aims to stop the small boats that brought more than 45,000 asylum seekers to Britain's shores in 2022 by not only making it illegal but dialing back the so-called "pull factor" of the welcome they receive.
Thousands of Portland residents who fear the impact of the arrival of 500 mostly single men on a town with a population of just 13,000 have taken part in protests on the quayside but human rights and anti-racism campaigners have also converged on Portland.
The Refugee Council, Asylum Matters and Refugee Action are among more than 40 organizations that say the barges plan is "cruel and inhumane".
It's probably better than what they left behind.
They argue it is "entirely inappropriate" to hold people in "detention-like" settings who are already traumatized by their experiences fleeing war and persecution.
A former RAF base in Essex, northeast of London, where 46 asylum seekers were transferred July 13 has also seen demonstrations by locals unhappy, among other concerns, at the drain on local services. The government plans to incrementally increase numbers at the site in Wethersfield to 1,700 by the fall, two-and-half-times the town's 707 population.
So, it appears the barges are going to remain tied up in docks and migrants will have free rein to come and go as they please. This will be necessary for the constant movement of food, for internet services, and for sanitation services. There might be reason to complain if the barges were anchored out in the middle of the harbour and movement was highly restricted.
As for RAF Base Essex, Wethersfield will quickly become a Muslim-dominated village. What could possibly go wrong there?
It would be surprising if Americans paid much attention to the problem Europe is having with Muslim integration. They are still trying to learn that Muslims don't integrate, they invade. They don't accept the laws of the land but always respect Sharia Law. They expect Europeans to respect Shariah Law and are prepared to rape or murder those who don't.
This is what is coming to bear in Fargo and other cities in America where the population of Muslims is closing in on 10% or higher.
Fargo, North Dakota Meets Muslim Terrorism Attack
With Diversity and Inclusion
AUG 2, 2023 5:00 PM BY DANIEL GREENFIELD
Fargo’s social justice issues resurface after deadly police shooting
You may have heard about the Muslim terrorist attack in Fargo, North Dakota that the media tried to bury.
Then Mohamad tried to ambush some cops and killed one and wounded others before being shot and killed.
What happened in Fargo was due to the Islamization of the area.
8% of Fargo is foreign born. Much of that population comes from the Middle East and Islamic areas in Africa like Sudan and Somalia.
Fargo’s population shot up from 74,000 in 1990 to 90,000 in 2000 to 128,000 today. Somalis flooded Fargo, as did Iraqis, Bosnians and Bangladeshis. Amid the pure snows rose mosques, ethnic welfare nonprofits, Halal markets and other outposts of the new population.
By 2000, six hundred Somali families occupied Fargo, by 2004, Somalis outnumbered Hispanics in the Fargo public school system. Refugee resettlement, led by Lutheran Social Services, continued bombarding the state with foreign migrants, 70% of them embedded into the Fargo area.
So it should come as no surprise that Fargo is meeting Islamic Die with DEI.
Fargo’s social justice issues resurface after deadly police shooting – Kare11
What better way to frame a Muslim terrorist attack which killed a police officer as “social justice issues” and a “deadly police shooting” as if the police officer had shot Mohamad unprovoked while he was gardening.
“I’m the first-ever,” said Dr. Terry Hogan about his role as the city’s director of diversity, equity and inclusion. He’s a longtime teacher and consultant from Chicago who came out of retirement to make sure every community in Fargo has a voice.
“There was no directions on what they wanted me to do, where they wanted me to go, anything of that nature; however, I did my own action plan,” said Dr. Hogan.
From internal assessments to recruiting more people of color to every department, Hogan has now been working here for two years. He’s still the only person of color in his department of 27 people.
“It’s all about slow and methodical change,” he said.
He denounced the shooting, and then, when days later, there was a newly placed poster in town with the name on it a known hate group.
“When someone is trying, in my view, to capitalize on something, I just have no words for it,” said Dr. Hogan. “Hate is not wanted here.”
Nevertheless, Mohamad arrived!
He stood in solidarity with the Muslim community. Its leaders say, despite the suspect’s common first name, no one knew him or whether he was affiliated with Islam, a religion leaders say is peaceful.
And if you doubt that, enjoy a peaceful visit to Pakistan, Somalia, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Gaza, Egypt, Turkey, Indonesia, Jordan, Algeria and Afghanistan.
One of my least favourite European leaders, one among many, finally does something good in the migrant flood file, and his coalition partners collapse the government. They seem to be in favour of unlimited acceptance of Muslim family members. Good grief!
Netherlands PM Mark Rutte to leave politics after government collapse
By Paul Godfrey
July 10 (UPI) -- Netherlands Prime Minister Mark Rutte said Monday that he will step away from politics after the government collapsed.
Rutte informed parliament that he would not stand for the next election for the People's Party for Freedom and Democracy or VVD, ending a 17-year-stint as party leader and 12 years as prime minister.
"On Sunday I decided that I will not be available as a leader for the VVD in the upcoming elections," he said.
"I do this with mixed feelings, with emotions. I love the team dearly. But it feels right," said Rutte, who had stated on Friday that he wanted to stay on as leader of the VVD.
Rutte's announcement came after his VVD-led coalition government fell apart Friday in a row over plans for a monthly cap of 200 on the number of relatives permitted to join asylum seekers already in the Netherlands. But center-leaning and pro-family parties in the coalition refused to support the move.
Rutte tendered his official resignation to King Willem-Alexander at his Huis ten Bosch residence in The Hague on Saturday.
Rutte, who at the king's request will serve as caretaker leader until November's elections, said he was not interested in any big international leadership roles reports have suggested he might be in the running for, such as European Commission president or NATO secretary general.
In a parliamentary debate Monday on the fall of Rutte's cabinet, opposition parties paid tribute to Rutte but PvdA leader Attje Kuiken and GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver called for his immediate departure to be replaced with a fresh leader from outside the VVD and tabled a motion of no confidence in Rutte.
The proposal requires support from at least one of the coalition parties -- VVD, D66, CDA and ChristenUnie -- to pass.
Freedom Party (PPV) leader Geert Wilders praising Rutte for his service said it was important to introduce a strict asylum policy. Wilders said the PVV, the third largest party, did not want to remain on the sidelines and wanted to work with other parties. "Stop excluding the PVV."
The Party for the Animals attacked Rutte and the VVD alleging they had used the asylum issue for political gain by exaggerating the problems it presented the country to bring things to a head.
"You have fictitiously created a problem on the backs of vulnerable people. You have deliberately pushed it to a head and that is ugly politics," said party leader Esther Ouwehand.
This was denied by VVD party chairman Sophie Hermans who said VVD had committed itself to the reception of "real refugees."
Rutte's career in politics drew praise elsewhere, in particular for his leadership on the shooting down by Russian separatist forces of Malaysian Airlines' MH17 over Ukraine in 2014.
"Mark Rutte was the biggest supporter of relatives of the MH17 that we could have wished for. He has been very involved from the very beginning, also in solving problems or bottlenecks where things did not go well," said Piet Ploeg, chairman of Stichting Vliegramp MH17.
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